Score:  No. 8 UC Davis 10, Washington 70
Location: Seattle, Wash. (American Airlines Field at Husky Stadium)
Records: UC Davis 1-1, Washington 2-0
 
The short story: No. 8 UC Davis football battled for four quarters at Washington, and despite falling short the Aggies would find joy with senior defensive back Rex Connors setting the program record for career tackles on a perfect evening in the Pacific Northwest.
 
FIRST DOWN

• Rex Connors finished with eight total tackles, and now sits at 291 career tackles
• Connors passes Kris Spraker who had held the record for 25 years having finished his career in 2000
• The announced crowd of 65,421 is the biggest crowd the Aggies have played in front of in program history, surpassing the previous record of 58,040 set at California in 2010
• Cole Batson totaled a career-high 11 total tackles, making seven solo stops and four assisted, adding a quarterback hurry
• Khalani Riddick racked up eight total tackles and one pass break up
• Hunter Ridley nailed a 45-yard field goal in the first half, the second-longest of his career

WHAT HEAD COACH TIM PLOUGH HAD TO SAY
"We're not a pat on the back program and I'm not going to accept any pats on the back when we play games like this. Realistically, this game funds our athletic program and helps fund all the sports we have at UC Davis. And I'm proud that the football team shoulders that burden every year and it also gives our guys a chance to play up a level and in great atmospheres. This Washington team is a great team and everything I saw today makes me think they will have a great season. There is some stuff we did that was not good enough at to play at their level and we paid for it. I'm really proud of our team, we got a lot of guys in the game and we got out of here healthy for the most part. It's been a brutal three games, flying to Alabama, then to Utah and now flown to Washington. And during that stretch we have won two games in my mind and now we can focus on competing for a championship. We will take this bye week to get ready and we are excited to play some games at home."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Washington opened the game scoring on their first two drives to take an early 14-0 lead
• But the Aggies had a score in them late in the first quarter when they went 47 yards in eight plays capping off the drive with a Ridley 45-yard field goal to make it 14-3
• During the Aggie scoring drive, running back Carter Vargas broke off a big run bouncing off Huskie defenders as he rumbled his way for a career-long 35-yard run to put the Aggies inside the 25-yard line
• The Huskies then responded with a pair of back-to-back scoring drives to go up 28-3
• UC Davis then had itself another drive that led to a score, going 65 yards in eight plays before punching it in from one yard out
• The Aggies used a bit of misdirection in the touchdown scoring play, with Caden Pinnick shoveling it forward to Matteo Perez who then powered into the endzone to make it 28-10
• Unfortunately for the Aggies that would be the end of their scoring, with Washington scoring on its next six drives to pull away for the win

GAME NOTES

• This was the first match up all-time between the Aggies and Huskies and the first time that UC Davis has played in Seattle, Wash.
• On the final drive, true freshman Treynor Cleeland completed his first career pass. What made this special was his brother, Royce Cleeland, was blocking for him and his father, a former Washington Husky, was in attendance
• Dylan Mauro completed a pass in the third quarter on a fake punt, it was the first fake punt run by the Aggies since 2023 against Montana
• The Aggies were a perfect 2-for-2 in the red zone

UP NEXT FOR THE AGGIES: UC Davis gets to catch its breath with a bye week before finally opening UC Davis Health Stadium on Sept. 20 when future Big Sky foe No. 24 Southern Utah comes to town.
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